Dopamine Nation
By Dr. Anna Lembke
- Release Date: 2021-08-24
- Genre: Psychology
Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES and LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
“Brilliant . . . riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued.”—Beth Macy, author of Dopesick,
as heard on Fresh Air
This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most important, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.
In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain . . . and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.
Reviews
Introspective Read
5By Aboobmasta99I can easily relate to the author. It gave me an insight to why my philosophy in life until I read it was a path towards increasing pain.Not a lot of substance
2By appleuser318The best part might have been the science around dopamine, but it is generalized and made more confusing with the metaphors about gremlins. There’s heavy reliance on the author’s dull personal background to make claims, rather than using real research. Writing style is poor and often uses rhetorical questions. Not a lot to learn from this book.Challenging and Excellent
4By M.H.B.1I both loved and struggled with this book: a sign of a rich text. Lembke does oversimplify some neuroscience to make her points, which is frustrating for the curious. BUT for anyone struggling with addiction or just looking for greater balance in life, there are undoubtedly many lessons in this book. Reading it will probably make you uncomfortable, as it did me, but I hope it will also bring you the same sense of hope I now feel armed with the knowledge within.Extremely thoughtful read
5By ShinePresident__I highly recommend this book. From the stories told to the statistics used and the tools provided—this book is a must read in the age of mass consumption.Insightful.
5By rios of 4Attention grabbing stories. A good mix of science, stats and story telling. A ready worthy of your time.Outstanding
5By hawk523101So much research and personal experience went into this book. It’s truly changed my perspective on lifeWorth reading
5By Perverted ninjaGreat book with many great story examples. It’s an easy read with great informationAmazing read with loads of takeaways
5By sukritgupta94The book is very well written with loads of examples and stories of people who have faced different kinds of addictions. It provides you actionable things to inculcate in your life and lead a better life. Even if you’re addicted to anything small, this book is worth the read as it explains a lot of processes of how pleasure and pain work in our complex human brain.Informative and engaging
5By bdsh.14Through the stories others, the author conveys a clear message of the habit to get hooked to what we find stimulating. It’s an easy read for those without background in psychology or biology. The book talks about why addiction happens (substance abuse or video games, etc) and what can we do to prevent it to lead a better live. The stories give hope and possibility. Absolutely brilliant.Insightful! Also the only page turner I’ve read in the “self-help” category
5By Coco & DadGreat book for self discovery. Probably should reread periodically to keep insights fresh.Informative & helpful
5By CattChunAnna does a great job at choosing how to present her patient’s stories and how they can relate back to our own life’s and choices. I believe we all deal with some amount of over-consumption, so I do think this would be a good read for anybody!Great book
5By AndyRome1984Easy to read and let you think deeply about ourselves and the society we live todayProfound and life changing insights
5By HeyitsWesA wonderful read to start of the new year in anticipation of transforming bad habits to good ones this book gave me all the tools I was looking for.Eye opener
5By Mannyar96This book is great for anyone dealing with basic everyday addictions. Whether video games or even binge watching. This book goes into detail about the balance between pain and pleasure.For Psychologists
4By rrubio@99The book has a variety of stories told by the author can be relatable to some degree for some. There is biological explanations of dopamine with great analogy for the reader to follow along. I wish there other forms of addiction discussed in this book that is more abstract such as thoughts or a person.A dive into the mind
5By Skeeter FrostExcellent read and inspiring.Great book on addiction
5By AnthonyG88This is a great book on addiction and how our minds work. This book provides a lot of insight on addiction beyond drug use.Fascinating
5By BethanyAllayneDr. Lembke’s book is eye-opening, informative, and easy reading. She gives insight into creating pain-pleasure balance in the midst of our dopamine saturated world.Life changing
5By iloveyourgutsThere’s you before and after. Buy. Consume. Take action daily. Check in with yourself regularly. Essential reading for operators in the limbic surveillance capitalist environment.
